


The Hot Soloist

by pornparcel



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Jaebri, Jaehyungparkian, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Romance, Singer!Jae, also cowboy!brian, architect!sungjin, architecture student!wonpil, assistant!dowoon, author admits shes not familiar with jeju island, brian is from jeju, brian is hot, from duet, jae is sex deprived, jae somehow knows how to speak jeju dialect?, jaepil are cousins/bros, jhpian, not smut tho, pansexual!jae, parkbros are friends, read with happy thoughts, side Sungpil, singer!brian, young k is biran here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24015637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pornparcel/pseuds/pornparcel
Summary: Jae was never the one to back out on any challenge given to him and he's proud of himself for what he has achieved in life. That's why when Kang Brian blatantly refused to work with him, he was beyond enraged. Kang should better be prepared for what's to come. Or was it Jae who should better be prepared for the other's hotness?
Relationships: Kang Younghyun | Young K/Park Jaehyung | Jae
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

“Guess who’s gonna have sex tonight!” Jae sing sang while moving his shoulders up and down. He puckered his lips in front of his bedroom mirror and blew his reflection a kiss. He ought to say that he fucking nailed his outfit. He was wearing a black leather jacket on top of a light yellow cotton sweater with sleeves that peeked just slightly below the hem of his outer to cover half of his knuckles. And he paired it up with his favorite black ripped pants that showed off like half of the area of his skin on both thighs.

“Ew. God, stop. You sound crazy. And as your cousin, I’d like to pretend that you don’t have a sex life at all,” Wonpil said, holding his hands over his ears as he chastised Jae from across the room.

The older laughed and gave his jacket one last tug so it hugged his wide shoulders perfectly. When he spun around to face his cousin, he was still holding his hands up in warning.

“Piri, my sweet, innocent cousin,” Jae said, walking toward the younger. “When you’re twenty-eight like me and have gone a whole year without having sex, I will tweet something like: Kim Wonpil will put out for nearly anyone. Age negotiable. Job not important—”

He didn’t get the chance to continue his joke because Wonpil reached forward and covered his mouth with his hand.

“No need because I had sex just last month.”

Wonpil was full-on gloating. _What a dirty hooker. You don’t gloat about having sex with someone during their dry spell. Had I taught him nothing?_

Jae peeled Wonpil’s hand away from his mouth. “What?! With who?”

He shrugged as if it wasn’t that big of a deal. “It was just this kid in one of my architecture classes. We were studying together and I wanted to blow off some steam.”

Jae laughed. “Oh, I bet you blew off some _steam_ , all right.” The joke may have been accompanied by a crude hand gesture near, or around Jae’s mouth, depending on how delicate the sensibilities of the joke’s recipient are.

“Jaehyung! You perv!” Wonpil said, punching Jae’s arm slightly before Jae could step out of his reach. Wonpil was a couple of inches shorter than Jae, and two years younger, but he was scarily scrappy when he had to.

A knock on the door distracted Jae just before he could retaliate.

“Jae, are you boys ready? I’ve just pulled the car around,” Sir Ahn, Jae’s driver, called through the door.

“Yes! Thank you, Sir Ahn. We’ll be there in a sec!” Jae yelled back, widening his beady eyes at Wonpil, silently commanding him to hurry up.

Wonpil scrambled toward Jae’s closet, no doubt in search of a shirt that he’d “borrow” for the night and then conveniently forget to ever give back to the older. Jae once thought he’d had a Gucci bag stolen in France, but then three years later, Wonpil waltzed into his condo with it on his back. They had settled it with an old-fashioned duel. (Jae sat on him on the floor until he begged for mercy).

“Can I wear these white John Elliott you got from that magazine shoot?” Wonpil asked as Jae spun in a circle to inspect his outfit one last time. Seriously, Jae feared that the rips on his tight ass pants might get ripped in half at any moment, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. If he didn’t get to fuck someone that night (or get fucked by someone it didn’t matter), he’d no longer be held accountable for his actions. He can only go so long living the life of a priest. Abstinence is not always the way. It makes you moody, and Jae swears his road rage had kicked up a notch over the last few months.

But it’s not as easy as you’d think. It’s not like he could just zip-off to the club and have a one-night stand whenever he wanted. The sasaengs would be all over his ass and the story would end up on every newsstand by the following morning. So, to ensure that his PR team didn’t rip his head off, he tried to play it cool. He dated off and on and he kept his distance from the standard K-Pop crowd. Who needs booze and scandals? No thanks. All he wanted was a good old fashioned, scratch marks down his back orgasm.

“Did you just say ‘all I want is an orgasm’?” Wonpil asked, coming out of the closet looking like a million-bucks in Jae’s clothes even though they were loose on him. Jae already knew he’d let him keep them. They looked better on him anyway. The white fabric set off the natural shade of his skin and complemented the Dolce and Gabbana White and Gold Pearl sneakers he’d also pulled out of his closet earlier. His dark brown hair was styled in loose waves and he had this jeweled choker on his petite neck— a look that a handsome twenty-six-year-old could pull off flawlessly, whereas Jae would have just looked like a weird gypsy.

Jae decided to be honest with Wonpil. “Yeah, I’m giving myself a pep talk.”

Wonpil laughed and walked over to the older, setting his hands on top of Jae’s shoulders, staring at him straight in the eye.

“Park Jaehyung, you are one hell of a sexy motherfucker.”

“Kim Wonpil, watch your fucking mouth!”

He rolled his eyes. “Your hair looks perfect. They did a good job with the blond at the salon this time,” he said, fingering a loose strand. “Your face— très Magnifique, and that outfit, damn.”

Jae started laughing as Wonpil eyed him up and down. Only Wonpil could go from a French accent to a satoori in zero seconds flat.

“Enough, you freak, let’s go. My orgasm is waiting.”

***

Wonpil had one night left of spring break before the semester would start to kick up. He was a senior, finishing up the strenuous architecture program that allowed him to get both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in architecture in the span of five years. Just saying that sentence made Jae want to gag a bit. He’d rather stab his eyes out than take an architectural course. The younger got the mathematics and engineering genes, whereas Jae had been graced with the singing and composing genes.

“So, where should we go?” Jae asked as they climbed into his van.

“N Lounge! And then we can go somewhere else later if we don’t get satisfied.”

Jae nodded. “Sounds good.”

The N Lounge was the hippest and most discreet club in South Korea. If there was any hope of Jae locking down a one-night stand, N Lounge was the place to go.

“I can’t drink much tonight because I have a meeting in the morning,” Jae warned as they passed through the back entrance to the club and headed up a set of stairs that were used exclusively by VIPs. 

“Wait. Before we enter, I just want to clarify something. Once you start begging me for tequila shots later with tears on your eyes and with the life of my firstborn at stake, I would still say no?” Wonpil asked, just to ensure the boundaries were set. 

“That was a one-time thing and it was in Busan,” Jae protested. “What else are you supposed to do in Busan other than challenging your demon self to a tequila shot contest?”

Wonpil held up his hands and started listing off items. “I dunno— enjoy the beach, check out the food and the crafts—”

“That was a rhetorical question,” Jae interrupted as they made it to the landing.

As if by magic, the black curtain in front of them swept to the side, opening up an entire room of drunken debauchery. In one corner, an idol who should remain nameless (we’ll call him L) was sucking face with a taller man, and across the room two of the funniest women in gag shows were doing body shots off of a waiter.

“Welcome to the behind-the-scenes of the K-Pop industry,” Jae whispered to Wonpil. He giggled as they moved toward the circular bar in the center of the room. Jae waved to everyone that they passed, none of them were really his friends, but snobbing a fellow artist in the clubs was a sure-fire way to end a career. Even if he didn’t love everyone, it was his job to make it look like he did. The last thing he needed was for a horde of Im Jaebeom's hardcore fans to take over his Twitter feed with death threats. (He’d learned that the hard way.)

“Hey gents, what can I get for you?” the beefy bartender asked as Wonpil and Jae approached. There were a few other VIPs in line ahead of them, but he didn’t seem to care.

Jae shrugged, staring down at Wonpil for a second before they both simultaneously asked for Lemon Drops. Their laughter was cut short though.

“Hah. Cute,” a nameless prick spat, eyeing them as if they were eggshells on his sunny side up. “Are you guys popular?”

His question seemed innocent, but his posture and tone hinted at how dirty he was actually playing.

Jae had been drilled by his PR team to stay calm in situations like this. He didn’t need to read headlines in the morning of “K-Popstar Park Jaehyung Knocks Out Seoul Socialite.” (And yes, of course, he’d knock him out. He was a black-belt at pulling off chairs under someone’s butt.)

But unfortunately, Wonpil didn’t have to worry about his public image as much as Jae did. Before he could stop the younger, he already took a step toward the guy.

“I’m sorry, is there a problem?” he asked. Jae couldn’t help but chuckle at Wonpil’s honey-dipped tone.

The guy blinked. “We’ve been here for fifteen minutes and you guys just cut the line.”

“Gents. Cool it. I’m sorry I will make it up to you.” The bartender flashed a smile at the other guy before turning towards Jae. “Here you go, Jae,” he said while holding out two martini glasses garnished with lemon peel dipped in sugar.

They took the drinks, and Jae dragged Wonpil toward a table in the corner before a brawl broke out. Despite his appearance, Wonpil had much less patience with entitled yuppies than Jae did.

The lighting was dim inside the club, especially near the perimeter where separate tables were tucked away into little alcoves. Instead of chairs, there were miniature couches covered in rich brown velvet—a bit tacky for Jae’s taste— but they were so soft so who cares.

“You’re making me regret not bringing along my bodyguard tonight,” Jae said as they took their seats across from each other.

Wonpil shrugged innocently before holding his glass out toward Jae. “Sometimes I just can’t stand people with poles up their asses.”

Jae laughed. “Well, we can’t blame them if they really like walking with poles in their asses.”

That little comment pulled Wonpil out of his sour mood. He threw his head back and laughed before sitting up and locking eyes with Jae.

“To cousins,” Wonpil said, clinking his glass with the singer.

“To cousins!” Jae yelled back.

…

Although that certainly wasn’t the last cheers of the night, it was the last one Jae remembered. Their little hunky bartender had put so much vodka in that first drink that he was buzzed within minutes.

He didn’t remember the runway model introducing herself at their table and he somehow missed her name altogether. It was either Boyoung or Nahyun. Jae tried to get Wonpil to introduce himself so he could get her name, but he wasn’t playing along because he thought it was funnier if Jae didn’t know. _The snake._

As the night wore on, Jae was too embarrassed to bring it up again, but whatever, he just needed some sex; he didn’t need to know the girl’s name. He had dozens of condoms. Not to mention, he recognized her face from billboards around the city, so if she murdered him, Wonpil could avenge his death.

Around midnight, Wonpil told Jae he was going to have his driver drop him back at the dorms. Jae didn’t want him to leave because he was having so much fun, but he really needed some alone time with Ms. BoyoungNahyun considering she was attached to Jae’s neck. No really, she was like one of those suckerfish. He knew he’d be undoubtedly sporting a sloppy hickey the next day.

Wonpil left after Jae had given him a dozen drunken hugs, and the second he was safe at home (Jae had him send a selfie from his dorm), Jae turned to the model and laid out the plan.

She was pretty to look at up-close, like a Snickers bar. Jae looked at her and just knew he’d have one naughty night with her, enjoying all of her chocolaty-goodness, except without the guilt and the early-morning workout the next day.

“I need you to come home with me,” Jae declared, staring into her eyes, but not really seeing anything. _How many drinks had he consumed? He thought he told Wonpil to cut him off early?_

“Okay. Let’s go,” she sweetly said, standing up and taking Jae on his wrist. Blood rushed to his head as he stood and he had to squeeze his eyes close for a moment or he knew he was going to throw up all over her tiny dress.

“You have to go out by yourself first,” Jae told her as they walked down the stairs out of the club. Usually, sasaengs weren’t allowed in the back alley, but some of their cameras had crazy zoom abilities and he wanted to play it safe. “I’ll come out a few minutes later. Just wait for me in the van.”

“Whatever you want,” she said, running a hand through her wavy hair and pushing open the back door. A blast of fresh air hit Jae, sobering him up enough that, for a second, the idea of having a meaningless one-night-stand didn’t sound so appealing anymore.

He shoved that dumb thought aside. Thoughts like that were the reason why he’d landed in this mess in the first place. One year without sex had been long enough. He was not about to test out the “If you don’t use it, you lose it” theory. Nope. His dick was not going to disappear on his watch.

After an appropriate amount of time had passed, Jae held his jacket up to shield any stray camera flashes and darted for the van. Ms. Runway model was waiting for him inside, checking out the champagne and taking it upon herself to open every compartment.

“Want something to drink?” she asked as she popped the cork. Jae watched it ricochet throughout the interior, smacking the window and then bouncing back so quickly that he had to duck out of the way. Sheesh. The last thing he needed was to lose his eye over champagne.

She held the bottle out for Jae, but he shook his head. If he had any more alcohol, he’d be in a coma for three days.

The ride back to his condo was not exactly what you would call romantic. Runway model was taking shots of champagne (what kind of girl does that?) and Jae was checking his email to see if there were any updates about his meeting scheduled for the following morning.

A ping from his phone alerted him to two new messages. One was from his manager and the other was from his assistant, Dowoon.

_Yoon Dowoon (parkjaehyungassist@gmail.com) 00:36_

_What Up Boss? Just an update about the meeting tomorrow with the management. It’s still at 8:00 A.M. at JYP building, but now Kang Brian will be there as well. They haven’t informed me about what they’ll be discussing with you, but I thought I’d give you a heads up in case you wear your shirt inside out. I’ve attached a photo of Kang Brian, just a reminder of how hot he is. (You’re welcome.)_

_Your badass assistant,_

_Woonie_

Jae laughed and rolled his eyes. Some people might argue that his relationship with his twenty-five-year-old assistant crossed boundaries. Dowoon had bright silver hair and usually sported black on black for all occasions. Jae didn't think he could have reined him in even if he tried. Not to mention, he got shit done and made him laugh while he did it, so he didn’t see any problems.

“Oh, no way. You have a meeting with Kang Brian tomorrow? He’s so hot,” the runway model piped, peeking from Jae’s arm. He hadn’t even realized she’d slid over to his bench while he’d been reading his email.

He turned his phone away quickly, hoping she hadn’t had enough time to read the rest of the email, where Dowoon had attached a shirtless photo of Brian. If so, he was going to have to find the guys from Men in Black so that he could use that pen thing to erase her memory.

“Oh, um, yeah, we’re under the same company,” he answered nonchalantly, trying to read her features for any tell of whether she read the shirt comment.

“That guy sings with his soul. Have you seen his acoustic performances?” she asked, showing interest about Kang Brian’s music more than having sex with Jae. The one and only Park Jaehyung. Something was off with this picture. “He headlined the New York Times last year.”

Jae rolled his eyes and dropped his phone back into his jeans. It’s not like he had anything against Kang Brian; they just had very different styles. The songs Jae wrote usually skewed toward a younger, mainstream crowd, whereas Kang Brian was more of a gritty, folk singer. And the crowd loved him for it.

Before he’d come along, Jae was the number one artist of JYP Ent., one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea. In the last two years, their company had constantly reminded him that Brian and he were neck and neck for the top-selling status. They’d never met before, as their schedules kept them busy, but Jae loved the other’s music and was a fan himself, so he was happy for his success. He doubted that respect went both ways. Most people brushed Jae’s songs off as pop ballads, but he wrote every word and there was a reason that teenage guys and girls everywhere could relate to them.

They were good songs.

The rest of the ride to his condo, and even as they rode the elevator up to his floor, Jae wondered what the company had up their sleeves concerning him and the seriously sexy Kang Brian. (Yes, of course, he went back to look at the photo Dowoon had sent him in the email. Here’s a hint: Brian was on stage at a music festival playing his guitar, his eyes were closed, sweat dripping down his neck, his black hair disheveled, and was singing a song with every bit of feels he had in him. Jae couldn’t look away until the runway model literally pried the phone out of his hand.)

***

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

“Turn it off,” Jae groaned, rolling over to shove his pillow over his head so that the incessant beeping would disappear.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

“Seriously. I will end you if you don’t turn that off,” Jae said again, this time coming out of his sleepy haze enough to realize that he’d just threatened to kill someone.

“Um, that’s not my alarm and it’s been going off for the past hour.”

That voice. That was a female’s voice on his bed.

He shot up out of his covers and turned to see Ms. Runway Model laying in a suggestive pose on top of his duvet. As in, her hand was on her hip with her legs spread apart suggestively. _Seriously? Did she just lounge around in her underwear waiting for someone to snap a picture of her? So odd._

“Oh, jeez. You should get out of my condo,” Jae said slowly, trying to comprehend the scene before him. It sounded like he was relearning the Korean language (that he was finally getting good at), but her body was a little bit distracting. Jae hadn’t seen an almost naked girl on his bed in the light of day in over a year.

Her perfectly shaped brows tugged together as she pushed up off the bed. “I thought we could have another go this morning?” she said with a pout. When Jae thought back to how fuck-tastically terrible the sex had been the night before, it wasn’t hard to shake his head.

“I’d love that, really, but I am now—” Jae glanced at the clock and his eyes bulged out of his head. “Ten minutes late to a meeting with the big shots!”

He didn’t even bother waiting for her reply. Once he saw the time on his bedside clock, he flew into action. He is not a late person. He is responsible and polite. He shows up on time to everything from doctor’s appointments to cake shops – you name it and he’s there five minutes early smiling and proud of his timeliness. 

His massive closet presented him with every clothing option under the sun, but he tossed on a pair of loose jeans and grabbed the first shirt he saw hanging up. He shoved a black mask on his face, gripped his converse shoes under his armpit, and then grabbed a banana from the counter.

All the while, Model Girl just posed on his bed like she was in the middle of a fucking photo shoot. Before it had been a bit of cute, now it was just creepy.

“Sorry, you have to leave,” Jae said, walking toward the door and hoping she would..

“I think you should stay with me and we can make love on this bed for hours and hours,” she said with an accent. Jae could imagine that fifty-percent of the male population would consider her a wet dream come to life, but seriously, she needed to get out of his condo so he could lock up.

“Yeah, no. I’m sorry, but I have to go, so you can hang out here or you can—” Jae glanced around his spacious condo, trying to figure out what to say to this girl to get her to leave. _Was she just going to live here full-time? I’d come home from work and she’d be on the sofa with her feet propped up on the coffee table?_ He was not prepared to give up his condo just because this girl had an accent and a nice butt.

Instead of thinking of something to say, Jae just turned and left. If Model Girl wanted his condo for the morning, then so be it. He knew Sir Ahn would be waiting for him downstairs. He’d have ten minutes to make himself presentable in the backseat on the way to his meeting. His meeting with Kang Brian. Dammit, he couldn’t believe he was already ten minutes late. He glanced down at his watch. Make that twenty minutes late.

He flew down the stairs while slipping on his Converse, tying the laces when he was in the elevator, and then shouted out to the concierge as he passed by in a full-run. “Could you make sure that the person in my condo leaves? I’d like it to be discreet so have her leave through the back entrance. And maybe give her some kind of parting gift or something!”

The concierge eyed him suspiciously, but Jae didn’t have time to explain any further. Whatever. He couldn’t worry about his new roommate; he had to start focusing on the meeting.

His driver, Sir Ahn, was standing in the private garage with a frown pulled tight over his mouth. It was hard to see, but he knew it was there.

“I tried to call you, Jae, but you never answered. I was about to go up and knock on your door,” he said, pulling the back door open for the pop star.

“I’m so sorry. My alarm didn’t wake me up. We have to be at the building as quickly as possible,” Jae said, sliding into the back seat.

Sir Ahn ran around the front of the car and in two seconds flat they pulled out into Monday morning traffic. Most of the time Sir Ahn drove at the precise speed limit, offering a smooth and comfortable ride. But that morning he was a speed demon. After Jae put on his hat and applied what he hoped was enough make-up to cover up last night’s hangover, he realized that he’d forgotten the most important parts: He hadn’t brushed his teeth or put on deodorant.

Awesome. Great. He tried out the standard blow-into-the-palm-of-your-hand to test his breath and yes, he could kill a small puppy with that wretchedness.

“Sir Ahn, you don’t have a breath mint, do you?” Jae asked, leaning forward toward the front seat.

“No. Would you like me to stop and pick some up?”

Jae glanced toward the car’s clock and flinched. “No. We don’t have time, but thank you.”

Jae sat back and glanced down at his lap, trying to find inspiration to cure his hygiene woes. He had a make-up pouch and a hand-carry bag. His make-up pouch was out of the question unless he wanted to coat his tongue in concealer and hope that would mask the stench. He turned to his bag and thanked the holy Lord because stuck at the very bottom was a half-opened piece of gum. Sure, some of it was coated in an unidentified, blue substance, but he was desperate.

Next to it, he found a small sample-sized vial of perfume. He sprayed it directly on his armpits and smiled. Sure, he smelled like a retirement home, but he didn’t care. He was actually going to pull this off. He’d walk in and apologize profusely for being late and then they’d smile and offer him coffee and a chocolate croissant. This day was going to turn out okay, he knew it.

They pulled up outside of the building.

“Good luck, Jae,” Sir Ahn said as he pulled open the back door. Jae bolted from the car and thanked Sir Ahn as he darted past, but the older man called out for him.

“Wait! Would you like my jacket?” he called out.

The sasaengs were lined up along the street already snapping away, and Jae cringed at how terrible he probably looked after last night. He didn’t want to stay out there for another second.

“No, thank you, Sir Ahn!” he answered, pushing through the front doors and heading straight to the elevator. The lobby staff hadn’t asked him to check-in for years, but the woman behind the front desk gave him a strange look as he passed. Maybe his hat was giving her doubts.

It wasn’t until the doors to the elevators were closed, and Jae was well on his way to the tenth floor, that he thought back to Sir Ahn’s question. _Why would he offer me his jacket?_ He frowned and then glanced down at his shirt.

Oh dear God. No. No. It shouldn't be happening.

The t-shirt he’d pulled out of his closet earlier was not just a plain white t-shirt like he’d assumed. Nope. Instead, “FUCK DA POLICE” was printed in big, black letters across his chest.

For ten seconds, he just stood there, trying to grasp how he could have possibly been so stupid. He contemplated the idea that he’d woken up in an alternate universe, or that maybe he was in an episode of Naruto, but no. This was his life.

And if you’re wondering why he even owned a shirt like that, Wonpil and Jae had gone as rappers for Halloween the year before and they’d purchased the shirts as a joke. He respects all law enforcement personnel. Who doesn’t love a man in uniform?

Dammit. He still had the shirt on.

He dropped his bag on the elevator floor and then reached for the hem of his shirt so that he could turn it inside out. He would look like an idiot but it was better than walking into the conference room with the stupid phrase on display for everyone to feast their eyes on.

He’d just pulled the shirt up over his chest when the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. He froze. There, directly in front of him, was the conference room he was supposed to have been in thirty minutes earlier. He’d always thought the room was spectacular as it had floor to ceiling glass, elegantly showing off the company’s wealth. Unfortunately, on that morning, he hated the see-through glass with every fiber of his being because as the doors slid open, his eyes locked directly with Kang Brian.

Like a slow-motion movie, he glanced up to see Jae standing there almost naked, with his shirt half over his head.

“Fucking hell,” Jae hissed under his breath, tugging his shirt back down. It was time for Plan B: Try to force a heart attack to get out of the meeting.

As he stepped out of the elevator, Kang Brian’s eyes slid over the letters on his shirt and then he dropped his gaze to the desk and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe Jae’s nerve.

_Oh yeah, great. Join the club, Bribri._

With a deep breath, Jae pushed open the glass door to the conference room and all five heads swiveled around to face him. These were five people that had the power to drastically change his career, and they were all reading the words on his t-shirt. Jae’s brain yelled at him to say something, anything, so he just blurted out whatever he could think of.

“This is not my shirt and I have no clue how I put it on this morning,” he said, moving toward the empty chair next to Brian’s.

Awesome, he sounded like a complete idiot.

“Did you think that this meeting was some kind of a gag show, Jae?” Mr. Park Jinyoung asked. Mr. Park Jinyoung was the head of the entertainment company and he was arguably one of the most important people in the music industry. Oh, and he did not find Jae’s shirt funny at all.

“Absolutely not. This is not my type of humor. It’s not funny at all. I was running late this morning, as you all know,” Jae rambled on, making eye contact with everyone but Brian. The guy had seen his hickey laden chest, so he wasn’t quite ready to meet his gaze. He could feel him staring though, judging silently. “I’m so sorry for being late and this shirt,” he paused and gestured towards his chest, “Is just— I can’t — Do you have water here?”

Jae felt like his throat was closing up and he feared that he was going to die in the middle of that conference room, with a dumb graphic tee on. There’d be a group of old dudes, and one seriously hot Kang Brian, just standing over him as he slowly stopped breathing.

Jae was so enamored by the disturbing fantasy that he didn’t realize Brian was pouring him a cup of water until he’d slid it over in front of him. Jae swallowed his breath and then reached for the glass, glancing toward the other quickly to see if his appearance had loosened up yet. No. God, he was really good looking. His cheekbones could have cut glass and his jawline was perfect.

Jae could have written a song about his appearance, it was that fascinating. The song would be titled Black. Black hair, black eyes, black shadow. Duh of course but still. Brian was wrapped in complete darkness but it was so mysterious and appealing that one couldn’t help but want to submerge in that pool of darkness and see if he’d turn those predatory eyes back on you.

“If you’re not thirsty anymore, we’d like to begin the meeting now,” Mr. Park Jinyoung said with a stern tone. 

Jae gulped down another sip of water and turned away from Brian. He couldn’t turn back time and re-do the entire morning, so he just wanted to get the meeting over with as quickly as possible.

“You might be wondering why we called both of you,” the boss began. “You two are our top artists. You call different markets, both fan bases are equally strong, and you hold different talents.”

Jae started to breathe easier as Mr. Park Jinyoung talked about his talents. At least it didn’t sound like he was going to be dropping him from the company anytime soon.

“The Seoul Music Festival is coming up in a little over a month and originally you were both supposed to perform individually.”

Jae nodded. He already knew all of this. The Seoul Academy of Recording Arts had sent out nominations a few weeks earlier, and directly after that, his manager notified him that they’d asked him to perform a solo song during the award show. He’d already been practicing his song for the night.

“But that’s changed now,” Mr. Park Jinyoung continued. “We’ve decided to try something new, to bridge the gap between your music.”

Brian leaned forward and Jae slid his gaze to him, taking in his features as inconspicuous as possible. The guy was sexy with a capital S-E-X-Y. Yes, that’s right, all of his letters deserved to be capitalized.

“I’m sorry. Are you saying that we’re going to perform together?” he asked, with a gruff voice. It was the first time he’d spoken since Jae had arrived and he let his voice wash over him for a moment before he realized what he’d said. Wow. He was really not keen on the idea. 

Jae fidgeted on his seat and kept his mouth shut as Mr. Park Jinyoung addressed Brian.

“Right. So please write a song together and perform it on stage.”

“No,” Brian answered. 

_Alright then, the meeting adjourned._

“Excuse me?” Mr. Park Jinyoung asked, sitting up an inch taller so that even more of his charcoal-grey designer suit was on display. His sharp jaw clicked back and forth as he stared at Brian with enough heat to start a fire.

Oh. If Jae could, he would have warned Brian to back down. He’d been with JYP Entertainment for five years and he couldn’t remember ever talking back to Mr. Park Jinyoung. He doesn't think anyone in the music industry ever had.

“I’m a solo artist. I’ve never shared a stage with another singer before. If I’m going to share now, then definitely not with Park Jaehyung.”

_Whoa._

“Excuse me?” Jae interjected, leaning forward to meet Brian’s fox eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he was furious. In a matter of five minutes, this man had created not one, but two enemies. Maybe Jae wasn’t as intimidating as Mr. Park Jinyoung, but he had pepper spray in his bag and killer aim from this distance.

Brian gave him a once over, his lip curling into a condescending sneer.

“No offense, dude. But you and I are oil and water. It would be impossible for us to collaborate to make a decent song.”

Jae scoffed. “You don’t even know me.”

Brian grunted and sat back on his chair, clasping his hands together over his stomach. “I’ve witnessed a pretty telling first impression.”

Jae let himself take one deep, calming breath before he turned toward Mr. Park Jinyoung. With a sugar-coated smile and puppy eyes, he gave him his response. “I’d be happy to collaborate with Brian. Just let me know when and where I need to be to get the job done.” He paused and looked straight at Brian as he nailed home the last sentence. “Some of us are _professionals_.”

***

If Jae hadn’t been wearing that ridiculous shirt and chewing on blue-tinted gum, that exit would have been so badass. Like, James Bond explosion badass. He hadn’t turned around as Jae exited the glass conference room, even though Jae was only 50% sure the meeting was over. They could have had other stuff to talk to them about, but he just went with it. They could email him about the details later. Sometimes, you gotta work the moment for what it is.

_“Wow. I think you’re making the whole thing sound much cooler than it actually was,” Wonpil said over the phone. Jae called him from the car the instant he’d left the building._

“No, seriously. I could hear slow-motion applause as I was waiting for the elevator,” Jae told him as Sir Ahn headed toward a downtown coffee shop. Last week Jae made plans to have coffee with an old friend from college, so even though he wanted to crawl back into bed and nurse his hangover, he didn’t want to cancel.

_“Wow so people should be awed by that? Why? That’s not even that cool.”_

“Whatever. Next time don’t go buying me lame shirts so I would attend important meetings wearing them,” Jae said, not really that angry with his cousin. If the situation had been reversed he would have been rolling in laughter over the entire thing.

 _“It was our costume! And besides, you should have thrown it away ages ago. Also, the text should have been large enough for you to be able to read without your prescription glasses to avoid wearing it on an important meeting with your bosses._ ”

“Oh, Kim Wonpil, you are so hilarious I wanna talk to you more but I have to go. I need to confirm that Sungjin is meeting me for coffee in like fifteen minutes.”

There was a pregnant pause across the phone line before Wonpil responded. _“Park Sungjin?”_

Jae chuckled, “Is there any other Sungjin that I’m friends with?”

He grunted, _“I don’t know, there could be.”_

Jae stared out the window as the streets flashed by. Luckily, Sir Ahn no longer had to drive like a maniac since he was still right on time for coffee. “Do you want to tag along? Do you have a free period?”

_“No!”_

Jae pulled his phone away from his face to glance at the screen, wondering why his reaction was so strong.

“Why not? Do you have class?” he asked.

_“Yes, I still have Advance Design class to attend in thirty minutes..”_

Jae raised his brows. “Oh okay, well, I still think that you should meet Sungjin and hook some career opportunities. It’d be silly not to use him. I mean he owns an architecture firm.”

Jae heard random street sounds on the other end of the phone line - cars rushing past and then the sound of a metal door opening and closing. Finally, Wonpil replied, _“I know. I just don’t think Sungjin likes me very much and maybe I want to make it in this world on my own without relying on my cousin’s friend to get me a job.”_

He had a point, even though Jae didn’t necessarily agree.

“Sure yeah, but I’ll still bring it up later and see what he says.”

_“Oh, whatever. I have to go. I’m behind on this final project.”_

“See you,” Jae said.

_“See you.”_

Jae looked down at his phone, thinking of Wonpil in his college classes. Sometimes when he talked about his finals and his course work, Jae felt a pang of envy. He only went to college for a year. It was never really an option for him. After his parents died, they’d left Wonpil and him a small fortune. Wonpil had been with their family since the guy was four and Jae was six. Wonpil’s parents died in a plane crash and since then, he was adopted by Jae's family and he treated him like a little brother. 

Most of the money was tucked away in a trust, but after high school, Jae used some of it for voice lessons. He’d worked his ass off, knowing he only had a few years to make a name for himself before a newer, hotter singer would be vying for his spot.

The hard work had paid off when a talent agent from JYP Ent had seen videos of him singing covers. His fate was sealed and college was pushed aside for good. He wrote every song and helped create most of the music to accompany the lyrics. He was so proud of his first album, mostly because he’d done it on his own. With the money he made from it, plus all of his subsequent ones, he’d never need to touch the money in his parent’s trust again. It was all there, waiting for Wonpil to use it to follow his dream, just as Jae had used it to follow his.

When the car pulled up outside of the coffee shop, Sungjin was standing near the door, eyes focused on his phone at hand. 

Jae smiled, realizing some things never changed. Sungjin was a workaholic, always had been. He was wearing a dark navy suit that suited him perfectly and his hair was styled in a fresh looking way. He was neat and clean and way too orderly. Which probably had something to do with why he’d started his architecture firm as soon as he’d become certified at twenty-six, turning it into a global firm a year after.

Jae thanked Sir Ahn for the ride and gave him instructions to be back in about an hour. He doubted Sungjin had any more time than that to spare for coffee on a workday.

“Excuse me sir, are you Mr. Park Sungjin of Park Designs?” Jae joked as he stepped out of the car..

The guy smirked before sliding his phone into his pocket. The light caught his brown hair, highlighting his features that were too good-looking not to notice. “Good to know fame didn’t take away your rotten humor,” he said.

Jae laughed. “Wonpil makes sure of that.”

Sungjin narrowed his eyes ever so gently as he turned his attention to the chalkboard menu hanging on the wall over their heads. That reaction, on top of Wonpil’s emphatic “no” to Jae’s invitation earlier, piqued Jae's curiosity about the two of them.

“Dude, do you have some beef against my cousin?” Jae asked, trying to sound casual. The patrons in front of them stepped up to the counter and he heard the woman order what sounded like a Cinnamon Roll Mocha. 

“None. Why do you ask?” he asked, continuing to peruse the chalkboard. He was using his business tone. He never used his business tone with Jae before.

“Well, he’s graduating soon and I told him he should approach you. You’re my friend, he’s my cousin slash brother but neither one of you seems to be happy with the idea.”

His dark brows tugged together and Jae studied the way his brown eyes purposely focused on the wall.

“I have no problem with it. I’m just not sure if he can meet the standards that I hold my employees accountable to.”

 _Oh God, why did he sound like a more polished version of Kang Brian?_ What was it with people underestimating Jae and his cousin?

“He’s won more than a couple of dozens of awards for his works. I don’t know what any of them mean, but he assures me that he’s one of the top students,” Jae declared. His cousin was smart and he knew he could hold his own at any firm in the city.

Sungjin rubbed his clean jaw and Jae noticed the scent of a clean after-shave for the first time since joining him. Jae knew most of the women in the shop were purposely glancing in their direction while trying to be inconspicuous about it.

“That’s pretty good but he’s only one of the top students. And I usually hire _the_ top student.”

Jae groaned and rolled his eyes. “Give me a break, Sungjin. He’s brilliant and if you took two seconds to look at his designs you’d know that.”

“I’ve seen all of his designs,” he answered in a clipped tone before gently pushing Jae toward the front of the line so they could order.

A hippie barista asked for their order before Jae was able to expand on that very interesting point. Did Sungjin always take an interest in architecture student work? By the time they moved down to the end of the bar and he’d taken pictures with two very sweet fans, he was too distracted to ask.

They found a booth in the far corner so that they would have some semblance of privacy.

“So how is work going?” Sungjin asked as he unbuttoned his suit jacket to get situated, revealing a crisp, white button-down shirt.

“It’s going well. I have that tour coming up later this year, but just this morning JYP dropped a little bomb on me.”

Sungjin’s brow quirked up in interest, but he didn’t feel the need to ask Jae for details. He knew the older would offer him more than enough information on the subject.

“Have you heard of Kang Brian?” Jae asked, secretly praying that the architect hadn’t.

With a little smirk, Sungjin replied, “Of course. Everyone has.”

Jae rolled his eyes. Not everyone. Everyone has heard of the Beatles and Elvis. Kang Brian was not Elvis. “Well, yours truly is being forced to perform a duet with him for the upcoming Seoul Music Festival.”

Sungjin’s smirk fell slightly. “Very interesting. What did Brian think of this?”

“Brian?” Jae laughed, choosing to push his buttons. “What, are you on a casual name basis with him?”

Sungjin’s dark eyes narrowed on Jae and he was reminded for the one-thousandth time that the architect was not someone who liked to be teased. Even when they were younger, he was the serious, brooding type. _Oh, hmm, maybe he and Brian would be best friends after all._

“Sounds like it’ll be a good challenge for you,” Sungjin suggested, pulling Jae out of his daydream. 

“He was a little hesitant about the set-up,” Jae replied, not wanting to admit the truth. The guy had essentially scoffed at the idea of working with him. Get real.

“We’ll see, I guess.”

Sungjin took another long sip of his coffee before setting it back on the table and fidgeting with the lid. His gaze focused on his fingers.

“So has your cousin had any interviews with firms for post-grad?” he asked, not meeting Jae’s eyes.

Jae smirked at the fact that Sungjin seemed to care about Wonpil even if he tried hard not to. The two of them were going to get along one day if it was the last thing Jae did. No, wait, if there was ever going to be “the last thing he did” he would want it to be something a little juicer, like sex with Kang. Whoa. He snapped his gaze up to Sungjin to see if he’d somehow heard his internal ramblings.

“So has he?” he asked again.

“Not that I know of,“ Jae answered just as Sungjin’s phone started vibrating.

Sungjin cursed under his breath when he saw who was calling. 

He made a small nod at Jae and answered the call with clipped, sharp sentences. “We’ve gone over this project’s budget three times and if they still want marble in the garden paths, they’re delusional at this point. No. Tell Hanbin to give me a call. No. Mr. Lee approved the cheaper stone two weeks ago.”

Jae took the opportunity to study his friend in parts: his cheekbones, his prominent nose that led down to his strong jaw. His dark hair reminded Jae of Brian, but that’s where the similarities between them ended. Sungjin was a businessman with enough confidence to make the Prime Minister shake, while Brian was a hot musician with a killer smile.

If Jae ever had a type, it was Kang Brian.

Brian had taken root in his head. He needed to replace him with something else. Maybe that runway model that was still camped out in his condo, eating his food and watching his TV. Only problem: she hadn’t given Jae a good orgasm. No. That wouldn’t do. Jae needed a good ol’ orgasm so that he could push Brian out of his head.

Sungjin ended his call and shoved his phone into his suit pocket. Jae could tell by the remorseful glance he was aiming at him that he was going to have to cut their hangout short.

“I’m sorry but I have to go check on a project.”

Jae waved his hand and smiled. “No worries. I’ve gotta run anyway.”

“It was good seeing you, Jae,” he said, wrapping Jae in a quick side hug before taking a step back. As if wrestling with himself, he stood staring toward the door for a moment before turning back at the pop star. “And have Kim Wonpil call me. I might have something for him.”

Kim Wonpil.

Sungjin was all business. The way he said Wonpil’s full name made it sound as if it pained him to offer. _Was it seriously so much to ask him to help him out? If he had a cousin that wanted to be a pop star, I would go at lengths to help._ Although the image of a man like Sungjin trying to slip into one of his spandex costumes was too hilarious to imagine.

“I’ll tell him,” Jae said as Sungjin slipped on a pair of Ray Ban and stepped out into the bright Seoul sun.

Jae watched his friend head to his sports car and then he went back to their booth so he could text Sir Ahn to come to pick him up early. When he pulled his phone out, he saw he had a voice mail waiting for him from a blocked number. _Inch-resting._

He pressed play and held the phone up to his ear just as Brian’s voice crooned over the airwaves. The guy wasn’t even singing and still, he sounded like he was trying to serenade Jae.

That is until Jae actually listened to what he was saying.

_That motherfucker._


	2. Chapter 2

_“This is Kang Brian. We have a lot of things to discuss so I’m leaving you my assistant’s number. You should coordinate with her. After you stormed out of the meeting, I spoke with Mr. Park Jinyoung about a potential Plan B. But he dismissed my idea so we're left with no choice but to work together. Give Gina a call at ...”_

The line cut off after that. No goodbye, no apologies about their rough start. Also, it seemed that Brian had blocked Jae’s number because he couldn’t call him back. He badly wanted to give the other singer two cents of his mind for being a rude motherfucker. But nah, he was left with Gina, his assistant.

After Jae shot a quick text to Sir Ahn, he dialed Gina’s number and told himself that whatever anger he felt toward Brian should not be taken out on her. If she had to work with him all day every day, she probably hated him as much as Jae did. _Maybe I’d offer her a new job._

_“Hello, this is Gina speaking.”_

“Oh, hi, Gina. This is Jae.”

 _“Shut the fuck up,”_ she screeched so loudly that Jae had to hold the phone away from his ear for fear that she was going to rupture his eardrums.

An awkward, “umm,” and a laugh were the only things Jae could muster in reply.

_“Oh God, I’m sorry about that. You’d think I’d get used to talking to celebrities, but you’re Jae. Wow. This is insane.”_

Jae smiled. At least Kang Brian’s assistant liked him.

 _“Alright,”_ she said, taking an audible breath. _“I’m fine now.”_ Two more deep breaths and then she finally continued. _“I assume you’re calling to coordinate things with Brian concerning the duet.”_

Jae was about to reply when he saw Sir Ahn and the town car pull up out front of the coffee shop.

“Yes, actually,” he said to Gina as he exited the coffee shop with his head down, pulling his cap lower to shield him from any lurking cameras. 

There was a rustling of paper through the phone line and then Gina spoke up again.

_“Okay, well you’ll leave here in a week. You’ll be at Jeju for a few weeks, or however long it takes you two to finalize the song—”_

Jae cut her off. “I’m sorry, what are you talking about? Why Jeju?”

Gina cleared her throat. _“Oh,”_ she paused, clearly confused about why the two of them weren’t on the same page. _“I thought Brian discussed this with you. Didn’t you guys speak after the meeting?”_ When Jae stayed silent, she continued. _“Brian doesn’t write in Seoul. Whenever he’s creating new projects, he goes home to his secluded rest house in Jeju.”_

“Ohhkaayy,” Jae dragged out, trying to clear things up in his head. “Gina, could you give me Brian’s number, please? I think it’s better if I speak with him about all of this first.”

She hesitated for a few seconds before answering, _“Well, usually he doesn’t like me giving out his number to anyone.”_

Well of course. Jae wondered if Brian even put his own pants on in the morning.

“Well, Gina, this can be the one exception,” Jae said with a sweet tone. He knew he was putting her in a bad position, but her boss kind of sucked-ass anyway.

It took a bit more sweet-talking, and tickets to his next concert, but eventually, she gave Jae the number. 

Jae would have called Brian right away, but he had a meeting with a perfume company to customize his signature scent, and then directly after that, he had a dress fitting with Givenchy. Finally around 6:00 P.M., he headed back to his condo so that he could make the call to Brian in the privacy of his four walls.

When he walked into his building, the sweet concierge from that morning waved him over with a small gesture. She was a young girl, no more than twenty-five, with a simple, tight bun pulled back at the base of her neck. When she spoke, her eyes darted around the room as if she wanted to ensure that they weren’t being overheard.

“Sir, the situation from earlier was taken care of,” she said with a whisper. “The lady left shortly after you and we gifted her a fruit basket on her way out.”

_Oh good, apparently when you have sex with Park Jae, you leave with a fruit basket. What a lovely experience._

“Thank you so much,” Jae said, trying hard not to cringe at how embarrassing the entire situation was before heading toward the elevator. This is the reason why he didn’t have sex for the longest time. It’s not worth the trouble. He never had to buy his right hand and vibrator a fruit basket.

As soon as he arrived inside his condo, he pressed his back to the door and scanned his living room. It was gorgeous, all whites and with plush furniture and bright light-blue wallpaper. He knew he wouldn’t be in that condo forever, but it had been home for him for the past three years and in a world that was constantly bustling around him, it felt good to have his little sanctuary.

“Whattup,” Wonpil called from the kitchen, slamming the refrigerator door.

Well, kind of a sanctuary.

“What are you doing here? I thought you had that design class?” Jae asked, dropping his bag on the front-entry table and kicking his shoes off.

When he got closer, he realized Wonpil had a plate piled high with hummus, pita chips, carrots, and celery. It was enough food to feed five people.

“Yeah, that was like four hours ago,” he answered.

Oh, right.

Wonpil lived in the dorms on campus, but whenever he could get away, he stayed at Jae’s condo— which lately had been more often than not. Jae knew he was feeling the pressure of transitioning from student to full-time employee in the coming months. He probably wanted to be somewhere that felt constant whenever he could. Also, he really enjoyed stealing Jae’s food.

“Bring that over here,” Jae said, falling back on the couch. “I haven’t had food all day.”

“Because you fucked the model all night and slept in?” Wonpil said, dipping a carrot into the hummus and popping it into his mouth.

“Yes,” Jae admitted sheepishly.

“Poor Nahyun,” he said with a wicked smile.

Jae chuckled. “Don’t you worry about our Nahyun. She got enough fruit to last her a year.”

“What does that mean? Is fruit slang for anal or something?”

Jae spit out the pita chip he just put in his mouth and it landed with a thud on his pristine carpet.

“Kim Wonpil! Jeez.”

That only made him laugh even more. 

Jae thinks the younger lived to give him a heart attack.

“Relax,” Wonpil said. “I know that you and runway-girl didn’t go that far.”

“It’s just… have you ever had sex with a runway model and thought, ‘Seriously, I thought this would be better’?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

Jae laughed at his dry retort. “Okay, well, it was terrible.”

“Are you serious?”

“Dead serious.” Jae shrugged. “I’m over it. From now on, I’m just going to think of other things to do with my dick.”

“Yeah, you could probably use it to pop open a bottle of champagne,” Wonpil joked.

Jae held his hand up to stop his cousin from expanding on the subject. “If I make a phone call will you stay silent or should I lock you in the bathroom again?”

Wonpil shrugged. “I don’t see what the big deal is. You called Park Bogum, and I made sex noises in the background. Seriously, how was I supposed to resist?”

Jae shot him a blank stare and he held up his hands in defense.

“Look, I’ll go grab my laptop and do some work while you make your oh-so-important phone call.” Yes, he put air quotes around oh-so-important.

“Good,” Jae said, taking a deep breath and reaching for his phone on the coffee table. The sooner he called Brian, the sooner they could move on and get started on the dumb project.

His fingers shook most annoyingly as he scrolled through his contact list trying to find the K’s, but he did his best to ignore it. Coffee always made him jittery anyway.

Kang Brian.

There he was.

Jae had a sudden urge to program the devil to appear whenever Brian called him, but then he remembered that Brian would never call him so it’d be a waste of time.

“Are you going to make a call or just stare at your screen like a weirdo?” Wonpil said, plopping down next to Jae with his MacBook.

“Oh, I was just trying to make sure I knew what I wanted to discuss before I pressed call,” he replied, defending his awkwardness.

He replied with an “mmhmm” that only sassy grandmas could truly get away with. 

Jae hit call and then held the phone to his ear. One… two… three rings passed before the call clicked on.

_“Brian.”_

That’s how he answered. What was Jae supposed to do with that? Just say his name back too?

“Uh, Brian, this is Jae.”

_“Jae who?”_

“Park Jae,” he replied with a sharp tone.

_“How did you get this number?”_

Wonpil scoffed next to Jae, and that’s when he realized that the little snake had his ear pressed to the phone on the other side of him. Oh well, it’d save Jae the trouble of telling him how rude Brian had been as soon as he hung up.

“Does it matter? We need to talk about how we’re going to figure out this duet.”

Brian sighed. _“It’s been decided. We’re going out to my ranch in Jeju to write and record the song. If you can’t go, I’ll write the song myself and you can just learn it before the event. I’m sure you’re perfectly capable of doing that.”_

_What in-all-that-is-holy was shoved up this guy’s butt?_

“Wow. You are probably the assholiest person I’ve ever met.”

Brian chuckled at that. The bastard actually laughed. _“Assholiest isn’t a word, and if you’re going to suggest words like that for our song, I’d rather not have you show up in Jeju.”_

Wonpil slightly slapped Jae’s thigh. He knew his cousin was just as angry as he was over the way Brian was talking to him.

“Listen up, Mr. God’s Gift to Music, we’re going to do this duet together, and it’s going to be an amazing song. We’ll perform it on stage and then we’re never going to talk to each other again. Sound good?”

 _“I can’t wait,”_ Brian said, dragging out the word wait in a way that shouldn’t have made Jae’s stomach dip, but it did anyway because apparently his libido was still attracted to jerks even if his brain wasn’t.

Jae hung up before Brian could say anything else and then he and Wonpil stared at each other in silence for what felt like two hours.

Finally, his blank expression twisted into a little smile.

“Well, I guess you’re going to Jeju.”

Leaving to go to Jeju for a few weeks actually didn’t sound so bad. Jae’s life in Seoul was not a cakewalk (as much as it seemed to be from the way the media spun it). Oh, poor K-Pop star has to have designer dress fittings and nail appointments. The truth was, Jae’s days were regimented and scheduled down to a “T”.

Five days a week he woke up at 6:00 A.M. and had a two-hour workout session with his trainer. Then he had thirty minutes to shower and get across town for his voice lessons. Those seeped into his piano and drum lessons. Then he usually had an afternoon appointment with his managers so that he could practice for any upcoming performances and start memorizing routines for future tours.

On top of all of that, if he was working on an album, he’d head into the studio and spend hours writing and rewriting lyrics until they were exactly the way he wanted them.

It was a lot to handle on a good day.

He wouldn’t trade any of it for the world, but the prospect of getting away from it all for a few weeks sounded really nice. Even if he would have to spend that time away with someone who hated his guts. 

For no reason. 

Seriously, they had but spent five minutes together and the guy thought Jae was an evil stepmother come to life.

After his phone call with Brian, he and Wonpil spent an hour dissecting Brian’s actions, and coming up with all sorts of theories about why he acted the way he did:

1\. His parents were part of a traveling circus so he had to grow up around crazy carnies.

2\. He was born without a frontal lobe so he couldn’t process human emotions properly.

And their personal favorite:

3\. He was a North Korean robot spy, sent to South Korea under strict orders to infiltrate their pop culture and slowly drive singers, like Jae, insane.

They hadn’t worked out all the details of his assignment yet, but they were pretty convinced that they were on the right track.

Later that week, Jae was sitting across from his assistant, Dowoon, inside of a small deli. A turkey sandwich with all the fixings sat in front of him while Dowoon filled him in on all the details he needed to know before departing for Jeju in a few days.

“Are you sure you want to do this? You know Brian’s ranch is in the middle of nowhere there, right?”

Jae rolled his eyes. “That’s exactly why I want to go.” The quiet, calm atmosphere was calling to him.

Dowoon sneered. His voice was still as low as ever despite teasing Jae, “Sounds like a snooze fest. At least you can hang out with Brian. Maybe he’ll tour you around.”

“Yeah, right before he kills me and hides my body where no one can find me. And I have the worst horse allergies.”

“Ew. Not cute,” Dowoon said, before taking a bite of his Greek salad. His silver hair was a shade lighter than it’d been the last time Jae had seen him.

“So, I’ve been coordinating with Gina, Brian’s assistant,” he began. “She’s super nice. I feel bad that she has to work for that shmuck.”

“Agreed,” Jae said.

“Anyway, she gave me the details of the ranch in Jeju. Apparently ‘ranch’ is a relative term. She said it’s a really gorgeous rest house in the woods. You’ll have your own room and bathroom, secluded away from Brian’s.”

“Wow, I’m surprised he’s letting me stay in the house at all. I figured I’d be exiled to the backyard.”

Dowoon coughed and stared down at his salad. “Well, actually at first you were staying in a cheap hotel in town. But Gina and I convinced Brian that that setup would be a bit ridiculous.”

Jae grunted. “Of course. Okay, go on.”

He nodded, running his finger down the itinerary on his iPhone. “You’ll fly out of Gimpo Airport in three days and you’ll be in Jeju for however long it takes to finalize the song. I postponed most of your commitments until after the Seoul Music Festival. For the ones that I couldn’t move, I’ve either coordinated with them to have a meeting over Skype or the company will fly someone to Jeju to meet with you.”

“Sounds good.”

“So you just need to start thinking of what you’d like to take with you and I’ll help you pack. You don’t have much time to wrap things up here before you leave.”

Jae shrugged. “I don’t have much to wrap up honestly. I’ll have to break the news to Wonpil. He knew I was leaving soon, but I’m pretty sure he thought we’d have a bit more time.”

Dowoon arched a brow. “You aren’t leaving Seoul forever. It’s like a month.”

Jae pursed his lips. No one understood his relationship with Wonpil. For the last ten years, he and Wonpil were all each other had. Their relationship wasn’t normal or healthy, but they were each other’s best friends and they had never been apart for a whole month before.

Dowoon must have read the distress on Jae’s features. “If it makes you feel better, I can coordinate a weekend where he can come visit you.”

Jae sat up straighter, already planning their weekend in his mind. Does Jeju have epic nightclubs? “That’s perfect. I’m sure he’ll need a break from his projects anyway.”

Dowoon nodded and started typing away on his phone. “Don’t forget his graduation is the weekend before the show. I’ll schedule your flight home to ensure that you can be there.”

“Perfect.”

Dowoon sat back on his chair and crossed his arms, eyeing Jae curiously. “So now we just need to figure out how you can avoid encountering allergy-inducing things while you’re in Jeju.”

“By having a snooze fest?” Jae offered.

Jae was opening a bottle of wine in his kitchen later that evening when he realized that he should probably attempt to contact Brian again. He knew their assistants had been in constant communication, but it would be him and Brian staying together in Jeju and he felt strange to know nothing about the man. He could have googled him, but he refused to get any information about someone from the Internet. If everyone trusted what they read on the Internet, then Jae was apparently an alien with four illegitimate children and a drinking problem.

So instead, he scrolled through his phone, past all of the contacts, to find Kang Brian lurking where he’d programmed him the other day.

He thought back to their two previous interactions and honestly, he didn’t think their first and second impressions of each other could be more off. _I don’t know how he perceived me after seeing me covered in sloppy hickeys on the elevator while trying to get naked, but I definitely thought he erred on the arrogant asshole side of things, so maybe it was time to straighten that out._

Before Jae could stop himself, he hit dial and held the phone up to his ear while he poured himself a big ol’ glass of Chardonnay. Liquid courage at its finest.

The phone rang five times and Jae was about to hang up, sure it was about to kick over to his voicemail when he finally answered.

 _“Do you have any idea what time it is?”_ Brian said when the call clicked on.

Jae’s eyes flew to the kitchen clock. 12:03 A.M. Damn. Wonpil had come over and they’d watched a marathon of Crash Landing On You.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry to wake you.”

Although, seriously, what rock star goes to bed early anyway? 

Brian didn’t respond to Jae’s apology so he was left with dead air hanging on the phone.

“I’ll let you go,” Jae said.

Still nothing.

Jae moved the phone away from his ear to hang up, but just before his thumb could hit the red button, he heard Brian growl, literally growl, through the line.

 _“What is it?_ ” he said.

Even though Jae’s first instinct was to tell him off for being so rude, he forced himself to remember why he’d called him in the first place. He was trying to make amends. He and Brian were about to be secluded in the woods together so it was time to start singing Mary Had a Little Lamb.

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m leaving for Jeju in a few days.”

_“So you called me to tell me something that my assistant already confirmed with me days ago?”_

Wow. If Jae could have reached through the phone and stomped on his foot, he would have. He had never done that to anyone because he usually didn’t condone violence, but the guy was pushing every one of his anger buttons.

“Do you have any friends?” Jae blurted, genuinely curious if there was anyone on earth that enjoyed this man’s presence.

 _“Plenty. Do you want to know why I’m friends with them?”_ he responded.

“Yes.” Jae was so interested in this man’s personal life. He was even tempted to break his Internet rule, just to learn more about him.

_“They don’t call and wake me up at 3:00 A.M.”_

Jae rolled his eyes and took a long sip of wine. Now he was being overdramatic. It wasn’t even close to 3:00 A.M. His eyes flew open when it hit him—Brian wasn’t in Seoul. Dowoon had told him he was in Auckland for some endorsement thing and that’s why they were flying to Jeju individually.

_Wow. I could not win with this guy._

“Oh my God, seriously. I’m sorry,” Jae said this with an awkward laugh he was helpless to contain. But it was either that or tears, and he had a feeling Brian would respond even worse if he started to cry.

 _“You’ve already said that,”_ he replied and for the first time Jae could hear the exhaustion in his voice.

“Well, I really mean it.”

He grunted. _“I’ll be sure to tell my trainer that when he comes knocking on my door in two hours.”_

Jae couldn’t stand it anymore. He laughed. He knew he shouldn’t have, but he’d never had anyone in life literally see his bad side from every angle. No wonder Brian hated him so much. Jae would have hated himself too.

“Good night, Brian.”

_“Please don’t call me again at night. Or better yet, just don’t call me. I’ll see you in Jeju in a few days.”_

Brian hung up and Jae leaned forward onto his kitchen island, letting his forehead rest against the cold marble. It’s not that he was someone that had to have the admiration of everyone around him. He just knew that he wasn’t a half-bad human being. Sure, sometimes he stole soda at restaurants when he told them he was only getting water. And occasionally, he lied to his dentist about flossing. Sue him.

But he held doors open for people behind him and always let cars in when lanes were merging. So, he needed Brian to know that. He needed him to know he was a door-holding Good Samaritan.

He needed to win over Kang Brian, but he had no clue where to start.

“What if they have Ebola in Jeju?”

Jae put down his magazine and glanced up at Wonpil. His dark brown eyes were wide with worry and for a second, Jae thought he was actually serious with the Ebola virus.

“They don’t.”

That didn’t calm Wonpil. He started pacing through the living room, back and forth. Back and forth.

“What if you get a tapeworm from eating something bad and then you have to have surgery to get it out of you because it’s like the size of a snake?”

“Do they really get that big?” Jae asked, genuinely concerned about why he hadn’t heard about this sooner.

“In Jeju? Probably,” he said, throwing his hands into the air for emphasis.

Jae started laughing at his dramatic flair. It was time to rein him in before he got too carried away. 

Jae tossed his magazine onto the coffee table and stood up to hold Wonpil’s shoulders.

“I’ll be okay. I won’t be getting any tapeworms or random viruses,” Jae said, reassuringly making circles with his thumb on the younger’s shoulders. 

“And you’re sure you want to leave me for a month? Just abandon me in Seoul to fend for myself? Who will clutch my shoulders when you’re gone?” 

“Oh! That reminds me. I had coffee the other day with Sungjin, remember? And I talked to him about you.”

His eyes flew up to Jae’s, as he pulled out of his hold. “What, why?”

“Uh, because you’re both architects. Well, you’re about to be one. I wanted him to give you some advice.”

He stared up at the ceiling as if Jae was the biggest nag in the world. “No. I don’t need his help.”

Jae was seriously over his _“I can do everything on my own”_ rant. It wouldn’t kill him to get some advice. “Well he owns one of the biggest firms in Seoul, and he told me to tell you to call him,” he explained, pulling out a piece of paper from the kitchen junk drawer so he could write Sungjin’s number down for Wonpil.

“He did?” he asked with a note of curiosity.

“Yes, so here is his number. You don’t have to go work for him, but don’t you think he’d have a few pointers for you since he’s gone through everything you’re going through?”

He shrugged but still took the piece of paper when Jae handed it out to him.

“Are you going to call him?” Jae asked when he continued to stare at the number without saying a word.

He shook his head slightly and blinked as if pulling himself out of deep thought.

“Yeah. I’m not sure when, but I guess I will.”

When Wonpil and Sungjin had first met, Wonpil was a senior in high school and Sungjin, who was a year younger than Jae, was two years into his bachelor’s degree. Jae couldn’t recall them ever getting into a fight or anything. 

Jae watched Wonpil tuck the number into his wallet and then he glanced up at Jae with a pitiful smile.

“Is that honestly what you’re wearing to Jeju?” he asked, eyeing Jae’s ensemble.

Jae glanced down and smiled. He was wearing his favorite tattered jeans with his oversized gray cashmere sweater. And he had just enough make-up on to make it look like he was wearing none at all. He didn’t see the problem.

“I always try to travel in style or I feel gross when I land,” Jae explained, smoothing down the cashmere.

“Do I even want to know what else you packed in your suitcase?” he asked.

Jae went through a mental checklist: allergy meds, skinny jeans, sneakers, a slew of nice sweaters, and shirts. He and Dowoon had spent the day before packing anything and everything that Jae may have needed. The closest shopping mall was over two hours away from Brian’s house in Jeju. Dowoon had literally shuddered at that fact when they’d Google mapped it.

“Don’t you worry about me. I’ll be fine. We’re just writing music, we aren’t traipsing through the woods.”

Wonpil nodded and jutted out his bottom lip.

“We better get going if you’re going to catch your flight on time,” he said, reaching to grab Jae’s carry on bag for him. “I can’t believe you’re flying commercial.”

Jae rolled his eyes. “There’s no reason to take a private plane to Jeju. There’s no one coming with me.”

He nodded and frowned even deeper. “I wish I was coming with you.”

“You’re coming in two weeks. Dowoon already has your ticket and everything.”

Jae reached forward and grabbed his arms so he could shake him silly. “Snap out of it. We’ll be fine. Give Sungjin a call and focus on school. The two weeks will fly by.”

“Alright. Alright, let’s go. I’ll drop you off at Gimpo before my morning seminar.”

It wasn’t until Jae caught his flight from Gimpo to Jeju that his trip started to sink in. For the last five years, he’d stitched together a close-knit team of people to surround him: his publicist, assistant, managers, and trainers. Sure, they were all being paid, but other than Wonpil, they were the only real family he had. So why was he ditching them and heading two hours away from Seoul, to stay with a man who hated him? No, really. If Brian had a list of people he never wanted to see again, it would read like this:

1\. Park Jae

2\. Satan

Because of Jae’s ranking on that list, he’d done a little bit of recon with the help of Dowoon and Gina, and as a result, his carry-on was full of house-warming gifts (aka Jae-warming gifts) for Brian. There were cookies from Milk Jar and some of this expensive shaving cream from a boutique downtown. He had no clue if Brian would even accept the gifts, but he wanted to make an effort so that he wouldn’t have to worry about Brian murdering him in his sleep.

Jae had just settled into his seat when a whisper caught his attention.

“Psst.”

He jerked his eyes open.

“Hey… PSSSSTTTTT!”

Jae glanced over to see a little boy next to him, leaning over the armrest and nearly climbing onto his lap. (Which was actually harder than it sounded considering how spacious the seating arrangement was in first class.)

“You smell like cookies,” he said, sniffing the air around Jae like a puppy.

Jae glanced around to try and find his parents, but the only other adult on their aisle was passed out with a facemask and a pair of giant noise-canceling headphones. From her snoring level, Jae guessed that she wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon even if the plane suddenly started falling from the sky.

The boy’s sniffing caught his attention again, and then he poked Jae’s shoulder, annoyed that Jae wasn’t paying him enough attention.

“Oh, yeah. I have cookies in my bag for the friend I’m meeting in Jeju.”

He pursed his lips. “Oh. I’m going to Jeju to fish with my granddad. My parents send me away for a month every summer with my nana,” he said, pointing to the sleeping woman. “I get to do whatever I want and she doesn’t even care. It’s awesome.”

Jae nodded, wondering how he could extricate himself from the conversation as quickly as possible.

“I’ll probably play video games until my eyes pop out. Hey, wait, are you a singer or something? You look like this person that my sister has a poster of in her room. Uggh, I hate her. My sister turns her music up so loud and she dances around her room and I can’t hear my video games anymore.”

Jae had one dangerous thought about whether or not the boy would fit in an overhead compartment. He’d think it was a “fun adventure” and Jae would get some peace and quiet. 

Instead of attempting that and getting tackled by an air marshal, Jae decided to give himself a little space.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom really quick,” Jae said, holding his finger up to silence the boy. Luckily, there was no one in the lavatory, so he closed the door and took a deep breath, taking in his appearance in the bathroom mirror. His cashmere sweater now sported a bright red ketchup stain from the burger he’d scarfed down before getting into the plane. So much for traveling in style.

He gave himself the maximum amount of time to hang out in the bathroom before people would start to get suspicious of what he was doing in there. Apparently, five minutes was too long.

“C’mon dude, hurry up!” someone yelled before they pounded on the other side of the door. 

Jae groaned and pushed off the wall, sliding the lock open just as two bodies pushed open the door and fell into the bathroom. A man and a woman going at it like rabid dogs.

“Jesus!” Jae said, trying to shove past them while simultaneously trying to figure out if they were fighting or having sex.

“Oh, my God. Yes, take me. Take me right now,” the woman said, pulling up her dress.

They didn’t even care that Jae was technically still in the tiny stall with them or that the door was wide open. The guy started working on his belt and Jae practically tackled them to get out. He shoved the door closed with all of his strength and then sighed.

_What the hell? Is that just a normal thing now? Damn you, Fifty Shades of Grey for turning everyone into crazed horn dogs._

Fortunately, by the time he returned to his seat, the young boy was enamored with whatever he was playing on his phone. The rest of the flight he left Jae alone and he even got another short nap before their plane touched down in Jeju at 4:00 P.M. Though he still had an hour's drive before they arrived at Brian’s rest house out in Seogwipo that would be in the comfort of a quiet car.

The second the plane landed and Jae got his view of the island, he was amazed by the landscape. The sheer number of mountains in every direction was not something he was used to seeing in Seoul. The grass and trees were blooming green in late spring, but there were still patches of brown from the cold winter.

He pushed through the airport doors, enjoying the first moment of anonymity he’d felt in years. There wasn’t a single fan waiting for him outside, and the few people that gave him second glances didn’t bother coming up to talk to him. They probably thought exactly what he was thinking, “What would Park Jae be doing alone on the island?” No freaking clue.

A blast of wind swept his hair back as he realized the temperature was definitely chillier than it’d been in Seoul. As he pulled out a scarf, he tried to wrack his brain for details of his departure from the Jeju airport. Usually, when he traveled, there was a car waiting for him outside on the private landing strip. In Jeju, he was completely on his own and he felt like he was in everyone’s way as he stood in the middle of the path, looking around for a sign with his name on it.

At a loss for what to do, he pulled his bags over to the side and sat down on the edge of the flower bed so he could pull his phone out of the front pocket of his bag. A part of him was hoping that there would be a missed call from Brian, or that maybe he’d be at the airport to pick Jae up, but obviously, that was just wishful thinking.

He attempted to call Dowoon, but he didn’t answer. (What did I pay him for?!). After that, Jae contemplated calling Brian. Hah. That was a fleeting thought. He’d rather walk to his house in the middle of nowhere than bother him. God forbid he was taking an afternoon nap or something. Nope. No, thank you.

“Jae?”

Jae heard his name and glanced up to see a strikingly handsome girl standing in front of him. She looked like a cowgirl. She had on tight jeans, a white t-shirt that was adorably dirty and even a low-slung hat. She looked like a stripper Jae hired for Wonpil’s twenty-first birthday party. Fun fact: Wonpil hates strippers and wouldn’t let her take her pants off, so they just played Would You Rather with her for like an hour and then Jae paid her the money he owed her before she left. And that’s how Jae played the most expensive game of Would You Rather ever.

“Jae?” she asked again. 

_Oh right, there was a handsome chic waiting for me to respond._

“Yes. Hi, that’s me,” Jae said with a dopey smile.

She grinned, a wide grin full of confidence and charm, and then Jae noticed that she had twinkling hazel brown eyes. _Oh, good grief. I guess they knew how to make ‘em in Jeju._

She reached her hand out for Jae’s. “I’m Nana — a hand over at Brian’s. I was the only one free, so I offered to come to pick you up and drive you back.” She had a thick accent that Jae was having a difficult time adjusting his hearing perception.

For some reason, Jae hadn’t considered the idea that there would be other people at the house besides just Brian and him.

Nana reached for some of Jae’s bags. 

“How many people stay at the rest house?”

She mulled over his question as she walked toward a beat-up red truck sitting idle on the curb. Without a second thought, she tossed his bags into the cab, and Jae heard an audible clink as his bathroom items crashed against the metal. Strike one, cowgirl.

“It changes all the time, but usually it’s just me and Lucy. She manages the house for Brian. Y’know, makes sure everything is running well while he’s gone.”

 _Ah, so there was another lady. Lucy._.

“Are you guys together?” Jae asked as she held the passenger door open for him. He let the question out before he could even think of the possibility that Nana might not be bi and that she would take his words negatively. What if she just liked to behave like a macho man?

But that question earned Jae a barking laugh. “Lucy turns 55 this year and she has no time for my nonsense.”

“Huh, I like her already,” Jae joked, throwing in a little wink.

Nana appreciated the wink; her smile widened even further as she helped Jae close the door.

So maybe Jeju wouldn’t be all that bad. If Brian hated Jae, he’d just hang out with Nana and Lucy.

As Nana pulled out onto the open country road, Jae grabbed his phone and shot off texts to Dowoon and Wonpil so they’d know he arrived in Jeju safely. It took three tries to get the texts to send; the signal bars on his phone were sitting at a one out of five. Lovely. He rolled down the truck’s window and held his phone out in hopes that that would help.

“What are you doing?” Nana asked, peering over at Jae for a second before looking back at the road.

“Trying to get these text messages to send.”

“By holding your phone out of the car? Is that a Seoul thing?” she asked with a sultry laugh.

Jae felt his cheeks heat up. “No, it’s, well I’m holding it closer to the satellite.” _Right? Is that why people held their phones up when they were struggling to get a signal?_

“The satellite in outer space? You realize we just have a few cell towers here. I doubt your iPhone has the power to transmit signals into outer space.”

_All right, yes when you put it like that, I feel very dumb. Jae: 0. Cowgirl: 1._

Just then his phone pinged in his hand and he glanced down to read the text.

Wonpil: FINALLY. We’ve been out of contact for like 3 hours. Have you picked up any Jeju hookers yet?

Jae laughed, holding his hand over his mouth to block the sound.

“Did it send?” Nana asked.

“Yes, and my crazy cousin already replied.”

Her eyes widened. “Another boy looking like you?”

Jae laughed. “He’s younger and has brown hair and a bit shorter, but other than that we could be twins.”

“You’re about six feet right?” she asked.

Jae nodded as he glanced back down at his phone.

Jae: Had one in the airport bathroom and now a cowgirl is riding me.

Wonpil: WHAT?!

Jae: Sorry, a cowgirl is riding *with* me… to the rest house. Hehe

“You and your cousin close?” Nana asked from the driver’s seat.

Jae purposely positioned his phone so that she couldn’t read what he was saying about her over text.

“Very close. He’s the only family I have.”

Before she could ask for more details, he continued with a question he was wondering about. “How long have you worked for Kang Brian?”

She tapped her thumbs on the steering wheel as she thought of the answer. “At least seven years, maybe more. I was jobless after high school and Brian needed help in his ranch so it worked out.”

_So Cowgirl Nana is younger than me._

“He seems like a private person.”

Nana stripped her cowboy hat off her head and set it on the center console so that she could brush back her dirty blonde hair away from her face. Not that it was dark blonde, just actually dirty from work. Hopefully, they had showers at the rest house.

“Nah, he’s probably private to you Seoul people, but Brian grew up in here and I knew him from high school. He’s four years older than me, but he was friends with my older brother.”

Interesting. Jae wanted to pick Nana’s brain about Brian forever.

“Do you like working for him?” he asked, leaning over.

Nana slid him a sideways glance. “Of course. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

“So he’s a nice boss?”

Her brow quirked and Jae knew she was starting to get suspicious of his inquisition.

“Aren’t you guys friends? Isn’t that why you’re collaborating on this song?” she asked, effectively bursting his balloon. He sat back on his seat and crossed his arms over his chest.

Luckily, he wasn’t forced to answer her question because her phone rang and she had to take the call about lumber or something equally ranch-ish. Their turn off the highway came up on the right and Nana pulled off onto a thin gravel road. The gravel was uneven and the truck’s suspension was put to the test as they journeyed farther from the highway.

Jae had a sudden realization that he hadn’t checked Nana’s credentials or questioned her at all. What if she was just driving him to some random location in the backwoods of Seogwipo so she could kill him? _Oh, dear God, I just got into a car with a stranger._

When Jae peered over at her from under his lashes, he didn’t get the sense that she was a serial killer. She was still talking on the phone so he quickly texted Wonpil from his.

Jae: If I hypothetically get kidnapped soon, I love you.

Wonpil: You are so weird. Should I call the cops?

Jae: Not yet.

Wonpil: Please don’t die.

Jae couldn’t respond to him because his signal cut out for good.

Oh, well. Time to welcome death. 

When Jae glanced up, he saw a clearing in the woods a few miles ahead of them. Even though Nana had finished up on the phone, they sat in silence as she rounded the curve on the county road. Light seeped through the trees ahead of them, but Jae couldn’t see anything until she crested the top of a hill.

As soon as the cabin came into view, Jae held his breath. It was beautiful; a secluded oasis in the middle of the woods. Mountains were spanning the backdrop behind the house, but trees sprouted up everywhere, blocking out the first floor of the cabin completely.

The sun was still up, but it was nearing the top of the mountain ridge, painting the sky with colorful pink and orange hues. It was breathtaking, but that wasn’t where he focused. He was completely enamored by the top story of the cabin that was bathed in a warm glow. When he thought of a cabin in the woods, he thought of one story, one-bedroom house. This was a cabin on steroids, and as they drove closer he could see even more details.

Stone bricks made up the base of the cabin, but the top floor was open, with large windows bordered by massive logs. A wraparound porch opened up the house even more, and at the very top, on what looked like the third level, there was a small balcony completely secluded away from everything else.

Jae was more excited than ever to have Wonpil come for a visit so he’d get to see how amazing it was. No wonder Brian wrote his songs here. Jae was surprised he ever left.

Nana pulled up into the gravel driveway behind a black Jeep Wrangler and cut the engine.

“You made it,” she said, glancing over.

Jae smiled. “Thanks so much for the ride.” _And also for not being a murderer._

He hopped out of the truck and stretched out his long limbs. Every part of his body was sore from the trip.

Jae turned to the cabin in time to see Brian step out onto the small balcony on the third floor. He was barefoot, wearing a worn-out t-shirt and jeans. His hair was mussed up and from where Jae stood, it looked like he hadn’t shaved in the last few days.

When their eyes met, Brian didn’t smile or nod. They just stared at each other for a moment in silence and Jae felt a shiver of something run down his spine. That was probably his body’s physical reaction to the hate signals Brian was trying to send his way.

Then Jae realized that he was in the middle of some bizarre Romeo and Juliet balcony scene with roles reversed and he was Juliet.

_”O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?”_

_And all he said in reply was: Begone, loser!”_


End file.
